Who Knew
by sktrgrl13
Summary: Who knew that three years could change everything...even the closest of friends feel the stress of separation and the elation of return, but what happens when one doesn't remember the other? Yaoi


**Disclaimer: Mashima-sensei owns Fairy Tail!**

**Warnings: Yaoi/Shounen-ai, Language**

_Dark, grey clouds covered the afternoon sky preventing any source of light from breaking through. The normally light clouds seemed heavy and sluggish as they moved through the sky, but it couldn't be more fitting. The young raven continued to run as a roll of thunder echoed overhead; he wasn't going to let it deter him from his task. He sniffled as he tried to keep the tears at bay, but no matter what he did the tears just wanted to fall; his eyes were burning with the effort of keeping that charade on his face. The rain started to drop haphazardly from the sky as the clouds could no longer bear the weight that was resting upon them. The raven knew exactly how they felt; he didn't know how much longer he would be able to last either. _

_The eight year old boy stopped running when he noticed where he his feet had led him; the park. Due to the horrid weather, it was obviously vacant; but the boy couldn't help but think that the park seemed a little lonely. The way the cold wind pushed against the empty swings back and forth made him think that the swings wanted nothing more than for someone to sit on them and help them soar into the air gracefully. When he closed his eyes he could remember his mother pushing him on the swing; he was laughing and his mother had the biggest smile on her face. The higher he got, the more he got to see; he could see his brother playing on the yellow swirly slide and his sister playing on the monkey bars…everything was perfect then. _

_But as he stared at that empty swing, he knew that everything had changed in a blink of an eye. He didn't fully understand what was happening around him; all he knew was that his mother wouldn't be coming home anymore. His older brother and sister had tried to explain it to him earlier, but he couldn't understand why his mom wouldn't be coming back. She was fine a few days ago, but now she was just…she was just gone and his siblings tried to tell him that she wasn't coming back…how could they play a cruel joke like that?!_

_At least…that's what he thought until he saw his mother lying in a big box; her eyes closed as if she were sleeping. Her body was covered in these weird red marks, but they could only be seen if someone where stand close to her. While the old man talked at the front of the building they were sitting in, he was waiting for his mother to sit up, wink and start laughing because everyone fell for her prank; but it didn't happen. The raven didn't start to panic until someone shut the lid on his mother's face and people started to pick the box up. Suddenly everyone was led outside and they were all gathered around a hole in the ground. _

_He could remember staring blankly at the hole in confusion until the box his mother was in was placed on this weird holder-thing and the old man started to talk some more. He couldn't remember what the old man was saying for his sole attention was on the box. He was still waiting for his mother to pop out of that box and he continued to think that until someone threw dirt on the box and started to lower it into the hole. He remembered screaming at the top of his lungs and he remembered his siblings trying to hold him back before an even stronger pair of hands held him tighter…_

"_Hey, you okay?"_

_The raven jumped as the soft, timid voice reached his ears and slowly turned around. He only got a glimpse of a red shirt and then a flash of pink hair before arms wrapped around him and began to squeeze the life at him. He was about to yell at the boy and demand what was going on when he felt the warm droplets dancing on his cheeks and finally registered the sobs that were breaking free from his throat; he hadn't even realized he was crying until now. Slowly, his tears subsided and turned to awkward sniffles prompting the person hugging him to pull away._

_When the stranger was finally standing straight in front of him he realized that it was a boy the same age, maybe even younger, than himself. His oddly pink shaded hair was drooping slightly from the rain, but even then the raven could tell that it was spiked and went any which way it wished. The boy was shorter than the raven by a few centimeters, but he could tell the boy was able to hold his own. What the raven found odd about the pinkette wasn't his pink hair or his squinted olive green eyes, but the scaly scarf that adorned his tanned neck; it was midsummer, it was much too hot for a scarf even if it was raining. _

"_Are…you okay?" The pinkette cocked his head to the side innocently._

_The raven nodded frantically and struggled to wipe the drying tears from his face,_

"_I-I'm fine…"_

_The pinkette walked up to the raven and grabbed a hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly. The raven blinked at the gesture in confusion; his older brother said that he was too old to be holding hands, but at the same time the warm hand covering his felt warm and safe. The raven sniffled once more and squeezed the boy's hand in return causing a bright smile to light up the boy's face. The raven couldn't help but find the smile infectious; slowly, a smile, although a bit weak, spread across his own face as well. _

_The pinkette giggled before staring into the raven's deep blue eyes,_

"_My name's Natsu, what's yours?"_

_The raven stared down at his mud covered shoes and scuffed them against the ground before mumbling,_

"'_m Gray…"_

_The pinkette's sudden silence caused Gray to glance up but was surprised to see a soft, knowing smile on Natsu's face. Gray's couldn't help but turn away from the smile that caused such warmth to fill him; warmth that he couldn't quite understand. Natsu squeezed Gray's hand once more before determination flooded his eyes._

"_Gray huh…" He whispered excitedly, "Do you wanna be my friend Gray?"_

_The raven's eyes widened at the words that left the boy's mouth. They hadn't known each other for more than five seconds and the pink haired boy had wanted to be his friend. Gray couldn't help but stare at Natsu skeptically; the raven wasn't known for making friends…it was something he was bad at. Whenever he tried to make friends with someone, something always went wrong and for some reason he didn't want to lose this friend. As he stared into the olive green eyes of Natsu he found himself nodding his head slightly._

"_Y-Yeah…"_

_If it was possible, Natsu's smile broadened even more and wrapped his arms around Gray in a tight embrace once again. Not being one for physical contact the raven couldn't help but try to pull away from the pinkette's offending appendages; Natsu just simply hugged him tighter. _

"_Don't worry Gray!" The pinkette trilled happily, "We're going to be friends forever!"_

The offending beeping of his bedside alarm pulled a groggy raven out of his peaceful slumber. Cursing under his breath, Gray picked up his alarm clock and chucked it across the room so that it hit the opposite wall. The sound of crushing plastic immediately reached his ears, but he could careless; it was the alarm's fault for ruining a good dream…a good memory. Gray snuggled deeper into his blankets and hid is head under his pillow in an attempt to return to his dream world. He could feel sleep faintly tugging on his consciousness when calloused hands wrapped around his ankles and pulled him out of bed so that his stomach smacked painfully against the floor. He didn't even need to turn around to discover who the culprit was either; after all this happened every single morning.

"What the hell Lyon!"

His older brother stood over him with his arms crossed firmly over his chest and smirk shaping his pale lips. Gray could feel the silverette's eyes burning into his back as he got to his feet and rubbed his abused stomach rhythmically in order to ease the pain. Lyon knew that his stomach was a sensitive spot for him; why he continued to abuse him like that every morning astounded him. Lyon chuckled at his accusatory expression before ruffling the messy raven hair so that it stuck up even more randomly.

"It's not my fault that you broke your fourth alarm clock this week," Lyon shrugged, "Something had to make sure you got up for school."

Gray's deep blue eyes darkened even further at the mention of his high school; Fairy Tail High. The school itself wasn't a problem; sure the students were a little odd and more than a tad bit eccentric, but so was he so he couldn't complain. The teachers were crazier than the students and he didn't even want to contemplate the strange attitude of his principal, but he didn't mind them either; they made high school slightly bearable. No, the reason why he hated going to school was the person who was haunting his dreams this morning… Natsu Dragneel.

He hated going to school and watch his childhood friend walk around the halls without him by his side. He hated the fact that the dumbass, airheaded pinkette had forgotten the promise that they made all those years ago. Natsu had moved away from Magnolia to the next town over, Edolas, when the boys were thirteen. Until that moment when their lives changed forever, they had been inseparable; one couldn't be seen without the other, even if they spent most of their time shouting insults at each other and fighting. When Natsu had told him that he was moving, Gray remembered how his heart nearly broke; the pinkette was the only true friend and he was leaving just like he had feared.

The pinkette promised that he would write every day and that he would return to Magnolia as soon as he could so that they could be together once more. Gray remembered nodding his head in understanding hugging Natsu for the first time; the pinkette was always the one initiating the physical contact, but this time Gray wanted to do it. He remembered the pinkette stiffening in surprise for a moment before relaxing and resting his arms lazily on Gray's waist. As the boys separated, Natsu hesitantly pressed his lips against Gray's before the raven could say anything or even respond for that matter; for as soon as he felt the warmth on his lips, it was gone and Natsu was running away from him waving goodbye and shouting to him that he would write soon.

Natsu did keep his promise; he wrote Gray every day for the first six months that he was gone when suddenly the letters had stopped coming. The raven just put it down to the fact that Natsu was busy with his new school and his new friends at that he would write back eventually. Gray waited and waited for the letters to come; just as he waited and waited for his best and only friend to return home. When he was about to give up hope, three years later, a familiar head of pink entered his homeroom. Despite the fact that he hadn't heard from the pinkette in three years, he was ready to accept him with open arms, but when those olive eyes reached deep blue, there was no recognition and Natsu simply just turned away.

At first Gray thought that Natsu was teasing him, trying to get a rise out of him like he used to, but he soon learned that the pinkette actually didn't remember him. He remembered when the realization fell upon his shoulders and the pain that he pushed to the back of his heart came back at him with a vengeance. For the first time since his mother died, he felt like he was going to break and any semblance of his world would be destroyed; all because Natsu Dragneel didn't remember him…

Lyon sighed causing the brooding raven to be pulled out of his thoughts. The silverette was watching him with saddened onyx eyes and the look of pity caused Gray's formidable anger to rear its ugly head. In one fluid movement, he pushed his older brother out of his bedroom and slammed the door in his face before locking it. He could hear Lyon's enraged shouts from behind the barricade of his door, but Gray simply plugged his iPod into his speakers and turned it up loud enough to drown out Lyon's rant.

FTFTFTFT

Gray sat in the back of homeroom with head pillowed in his arms against his wooden desk. His headphones were planted firmly in his ears in order to escape the antics of his classmates; he just wasn't in the mood to deal with them today. He stared blankly ahead of him and watched each of them in turn; maybe a tad stalker-like, but he was an observer…he learned about people by watching them. Of course he's been most of the people in this classroom since they were in kindergarten, but as they grew up they obviously changed and gained new habits.

The best example would be Cana Alberona; the brunette used to be kind of timid, but wasn't afraid to voice her opinions. When they were younger she was one of the few who tried to initially befriend him before she realized that it was impossible. Now that they were in high school, she still tried to talk to him, but she was more loud and demanding than she used to be; not mention she was a bit of an alcoholic. Gray eyed that water bottle that rested at the corner of her desk and he was willing to bet it held something stronger than water…something much stronger.

His was about to continue his observing when a hand tapped him on his shoulder. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw a familiar strawberry blonde teen wearing shades staring at him mischievously. His name was Loke Regulus, probably his only "friend" in high school; they talked every now and again and he was easy to talk to, but Gray just wouldn't be able to hang out with him on a daily basis. The raven sighed before pulling out his headphones and turning off his iPod and shoving it in his pocket. The blonde sat himself in the seat in front of Gray with a cocky smile planted firmly on his face.

"Hey there Gray, welcome back to reality."

The raven rolled his eyes and was tempted to put his headphones back in when another blonde sauntered up to him; he found this occurrence strange and out of the ordinary. He knew who the petite blonde girl was, but he had never thought that she would walk over to his desk. They were completely different levels on the social spectrum; he was on the loner/goth side while she was on the preppy/social side…with Natsu.

"Your name is Gray Fullbuster right?"

Gray stared at her for a moment before nodding his head imperceptibly,

"What's it to you?"

The blonde gnawed her lip for a moment and tangled her fingers in her hair thoughtfully. Gray glanced over at the strawberry blonde in front of him only to see that Loke had disappeared. Oh yes, how could he have forgotten; the renowned playboy was terrified of Lucy Heartfilia. Everyone thought his reaction was strange…well everyone except for Gray that is. He knew exactly why he ran away from the rich blonde and that reason was because he had the biggest, most obsessive crush on her in the world. The raven rolled his eyes before returning his attention to the blonde only to wish that she hadn't. He didn't notice when she put a book in front of him and it wasn't just any book either; it was the yearbook of his final year of middle school…the year Natsu left.

"Where did you get this?" He hissed.

Lucy's brown eyes bored into his blue with a determination that he only saw in Natsu,

"I found this at Natsu's this weekend in his closet…"

Gray watched as she flipped the book open and paused at the page where the 'Most Likely to Be…' section resided. There were pictures of people under headings such as 'Most Likely to Be a Doctor' or 'Most Likely to Be a Rock star', but the one that Lucy was pointing to was neither of those. No, the one she was pointing was the photo of himself and Natsu; their arms around each other's neck with dorky smiles on their faces. Gray tried to mentally burn a hole into the heading that rested above their heads…

'Most Likely to Be a Couple'…

"I saw this and I was just wondering," She glanced away from the raven, "Why aren't you friends anymore?"

Gray stared blankly at the photo that was staring at him; he could remember the exact day it was taken. It was the conclusion of the track and field meet that was being held at their school; Natsu had just placed 1st in the 100m and 200m dash while Gray got 1st place in the shot put and long jump. They were congratulating each other when this photo was taken and if the photographer were to take the next shot, it would've shown the pair of them butting heads and challenging each other to prove who was better.

The raven sighed and folded his arms over his chest,

"Why don't you ask him?"

It looked as if the blonde was about to open her mouth to respond when Happy-sensei entered the room. Gray slammed the offending book closed before thrusting it into the blonde's flabbergasted arms. He shifted his attention to his immature teacher and ignored Lucy as she turned on her heel and walked over to her desk. He pulled his notebook out of his bag and flipped it open to stare at the words that had been etched into the page. He was faintly aware of someone running into the classroom, apologizing for being late, and then Happy-sensei started teaching his favourite subject in the world; fish.

Gray rolled his eyes and popped his headphones back into his ears and wrote words down on the page. What he was writing had nothing to do with what Happy-sensei was talking about, seeing as it was useless; he was writing lyrics. Gray had taken up music shortly after Natsu had left; he had to find something to do seeing as he suddenly had free time in his life. He read the lyrics on the page and couldn't help but feel bitter as they sunk in; why was it that songwriters always wrote about heartbreak?

FTFTFTFT

The raven haired teen sat on the bleachers in the gymnasium with his arms crossed over his chest. He tried not to look at the person who was sitting beside him in the exact same position that he was. They wouldn't even be in this hell if Lily-sensei hadn't decided to combine his two gym classes today for a game of basketball. Gray would've been happy with playing basketball with Loke and Gajeel, but no, Natsu's class had to play as well; the results were pretty explosive. All in all, the basketball game turned into a wrestling match between himself and Natsu; it's not like he planned for it to happen, it just did.

One minute Gray was playing point guard with Natsu running towards him at full speed; that determination to win glazing his green eyes…suddenly, Gray's fist was in Natsu's face and everything escalated from there. So now here they were sitting on the bleachers with Lily-sensei glaring down at them darkly; his onyx eyes burning into their souls. The man was intimidating enough with his large build and moon-shaped scar running through one of his eyes; but with the pits of hell staring at them, it made Gray feel like he just reached the end of his life.

"Okay, I don't know what's going on between you two and I honestly don't care," He spat, "But it better not happen again is that clear?"

Gray nodded and he could see Natsu doing the same out of the corner of his eye,

"Yes Lily-sensei."

Lily-sensei crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from the two teens,

"You're expected to clean the gym before you leave the school today and if I find that it wasn't done properly then I'll be taking this to principal Makarov; capishe?"

Gray sighed, great, now he had to spend even more time with Natsu; exactly what he wanted to do…not. The raven ran his fingers through his hair and sighed exasperatedly before heading over to the other side of the gym and picking up a basketball. Judging from the chill that travelled down his spine, he was being watched; he didn't have to be a genius to figure out who it was. Gray placed the ball that was in his hands on the rack before huffing under his breath and glaring at the other teen in the room.

"Take a picture flame brain, it would last longer."

Natsu's green eyes widened dramatically causing Gray to bite his bottom lip and turn away once more. The nickname slipped out before he could even try to stop it; it was just reflex…as soon as he saw the idiot's face it just came out. The raven clenched his fists at his sides briefly before bending over and picking up another ball. He went to head towards the cart once more when he found himself nose to nose with Natsu. A barely contained yelp escaped his lips as the ball he was holding fell out of his hands.

"Don't fucking sneak up on me!"

The pinkette regarded him with sad eyes before reaching out to touch his arm,

"Gray…"

The blue eyed teen flinched as if he had been struck and looked away from the teen standing in front of him. Gray could feel the anger building up inside him the longer they stood there in silence. All the pain that he felt for all those years were slowly pushing on the dam that he had skillfully erected. Of course it would be Natsu who would tear it down; it had always been Natsu.

"Oh, would you look at that!" Gray spat sarcastically, "You do know my name!"

The raven's words echoed around the gym as silence engulfed them once more. Gray chanced a look at the pinkette and saw the most frustrated and hurt expression on his face. His fists balled at his sides once more; he had to suppress the urge to punch that uncalled for look off the backstabber's tanned face. Tired of waiting, Gray turned on the wordless pinkette and was about to continue his job when a warm hand circled around his pale wrist. He immediately tried to wrench his arm out of the teen's grip only to have it tighten to the point that it was borderline painful.

"You have to understand Gray…"

The raven clenched his teeth tightly,

"Let. Me. Go. Natsu."

"No," The pinkette stated, "If I let you go, you're going to leave and I won't get the chance to explain anything…"

Gray faced Natsu once more and stood so close to him that their foreheads were nearly touching and the pinkette's warm breath was wafting across his face. If this had been three years ago, it would've been one of their familiar rivalry spats and nothing would come of it; but this time…this time it was different and they both knew it.

"What is there to explain Natsu?!" Gray growled, "You made it very clear on the first day of grade eleven that you wanted nothing to do with me; that was a year ago! You've had a whole year to talk to me and you never did!"

It was Natsu's turn to flinch, but it quickly melted into something akin to determination,

"You're right, of course you're right…but I was scared Gray!"

"You were scared…**you **were scared?!" The raven hissed, "What about me huh?! I waited for you…I waited for you to come back home for all those years; all those years of people telling me to give up on you because you weren't coming back! Even after you stopped writing to me, I never stopped hoping that you'd come back!

"Why did you stop writing to me anyway; did I not fit into your new life?! Was I just that **horrible **to be friends with?! What did I do to make you hate me so goddamn much Natsu, at least tell me that!"

Natsu's jaw clenched and his eyebrows furrowed darkly,

"That's not what happened! I don't hate you Gray…"

"Then tell me what the fuck…"

"I LOVED YOU DAMNIT!"

The last of Gray's sentence dropped as the Natsu's voice jumped off the walls of the gymnasium. He stared wide eyed at the pinkette as his heart beat rapidly in his chest. The grip around his wrist loosened allowing him to finally pull his arm out of Natsu's hand, but he no longer felt the need to move. It was if his feet were glued to the spot and not even a herd of stampeding bulls would be able to pull him from the spot where he was standing.

"I have loved you for a long time Gray," Natsu hissed insistently, "Don't you remember what I did when I said goodbye to you?"

Gray shifted his gaze to the ground as his heart continued to pound rapidly against his ribcage. The familiar burn of barricaded tears pressed on his eyes, but he refused to let it win; he would not give Natsu the chance to see just how much he had hurt him all these years. He had already blown it by yelling at him, but it would be much worse if he cried; he never cried…not since that day nine years ago when tanned arms wrapped around him in a tight, comforting embrace.

"If you love me, why did you stop writing to me; why did you stop being my friend?"

Natsu huffed and rubbed the back of his neck,

"It's because I loved you that I had to stop Gray; the way I felt about you wasn't right."

The raven felt as if the pinkette just reached into his chest and pulled out his heart. The tears that he was keeping at bay slowly started to trail down his cheeks, but it seemed that Natsu had yet to notice. Natsu thought that it was wrong to love him, but what did that make Gray himself; the raven realized his love for the pinkette from the moment their lips touched and Natsu had left him forever.

"Why?" Gray muttered as he kept his eyes trained to the ground, "Because I'm a boy or is it because of something else?"

Before he gave Natsu the chance to answer him, the raven backed away from him and started to walk towards the gym exit. At this point he didn't care if he had to go to principal Makarov; he just couldn't stay in the same room as Natsu any longer…he just wouldn't be able to take it. Not even bothering to stop at his locker and grab his things, Gray left the school…his tears still cascading down his face.

FTFTFTFT

By the time Gray returned to his house the sun was beginning its descent into the horizon. Pinks, peaches, oranges and light blues were starting to sprinkle the sky in a collage of colours that almost brought a small smile to his face. The raven sighed under his breath as he opened the front door to his house and shut it behind him. While he slipped off his shoes and walked over to the staircase he could hear laughter coming from the living room; it was obvious that Ultear had invited some friends from her university over. Gray couldn't help but laugh as he thought of his sister's eccentric friends; they were all so odd, but they worked together just as well.

The raven slowly ascended the staircase so that he wouldn't alert them to his presence and start a never ending amount of questioning. That was the one flaw of Ultear and her friends; they were all damn nosy and couldn't leave well enough alone. When Gray reached the landing he walked to the end of the hall and pulled on a string that hung from the ceiling causing a bunch of stairs to stretch to the ground. He carefully climbed the rickety staircase and entered his sanctuary; the attic. He closed the hatch behind him before wandering over to where his acoustic and sheet music lay spread around.

He sat down and grabbed his guitar as he leaned against the cushions he had propped against the wall of the room. He closed his eyes and listened intently to his surroundings and smiled when he was able to hear the music from _Just Dance 2_ clearly from where he was sitting; this was perfect. He quickly tuned his guitar and exhaled silently as his fingers started to strum against the strings. He wasn't particularly paying attention to what he was playing however, his mind was elsewhere; on a betraying pinkette to be exact. Gray shook his head to try and get him out of his thoughts, but no matter what he did it never worked.

Gray continued to strum until he reached the end of the piece; at least the idiot was able to help him write an entire song. He was about to put his guitar to the side when clapping pulled him out of his daze and made him jump a mile in the air causing his guitar to tumble uselessly into his lap. He stared wide eyed at the two blondes standing in front of him with mischievous smirks planted firmly on their faces; just by looking at them he didn't even want to know what they had planned.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?!"

Lucy smiled brightly and moved so that she now sat beside him; being aware of all the music sheets on the floor,

"I didn't know you could play; what song was that?"

The raven's eyes narrowed at the obvious disregard for his question and was about to reiterate his demand when a familiar narcissistic voice reached his ears,

"It was his own; he's been working on it off and on for the last three years."

"Shut up Lyon," Gray hissed darkly, "You don't know what the hell you're talking about."

The silverette stared at him blankly causing another uneasy feeling to crawl down his spine; he really didn't like where this was going. It was then that Gray had heard how silent it was downstairs and he had known that he had been played. Gray growled as he picked up his guitar and put it on its stand. He walked past Lucy and Loke then soon past Lyon and went towards the stairs that led back into the main part of the house.

"Are you guys coming or not?" Gray muttered, "It's going to get crowded up here with everyone."

Feeling as though his home had been intruded, Gray slowly made his way down the stairs to come face to face with Ultear and her friends. It was obvious that he was going to get some sort of intervention; for what, he could only guess. Ultear's brown eyes regarded him sadly before grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards the kitchen and sitting him down at the dining room table.

"You can't keep doing this little brother," She stated bluntly, "It's going to tear you apart."

Gray crossed his arms across his chest and averted his gaze,

"I don't know what you're talking about."

A menacing aura quickly engulfed the room of people causing the raven in the middle of it all to audibly gulp. His eyes immediately fell on the furious red head who was glaring at him so hard that he thought holes were going to be burned into his body; Erza always had that effect on people, it was damn terrifying.

"Gray," Erza demanded his attention, "The majority of us have known you since you were in diapers, so don't you dare try to shove us away; we all know it's about Natsu… it's always been about Natsu."

The raven dropped his arms to his sides, but defiantly refused to look at any one of them,

"Well it doesn't matter anymore because he wants nothing to do with me; he told me as much today, so just back off would you."

The entire room stared at him with wide, disbelieving eyes as Lucy spoke up,

"But that doesn't make sense!"

"How would you know anything?" He spat, "You barely even know me or what happened; you just stumbled on this shit pile on accident so you have no right to even be involved in this."

Gray growled as a fist hit him over the top of his head and rubbed at the lump that was starting to form on his head soothingly. He could feel both Erza and Ultear's glare on him but he didn't care; he was right after all, Lucy Heartfilia didn't give a rat's ass about him until she found out that he and Natsu used to be friends. An unsuspectedly comforting hand pressed down on his shoulder prompting him to look into the hazel eyes of Jellal Fernandes. The blunette was watching the raven with calculating expression making Gray feel as if he was being studied under a microscope.

"What did he say to you Gray?" Jellal inquired curiously.

The raven's hands balled into fists on his lap,

"Nothing… he said nothing."

"If that were the case," The blunette whispered knowingly, "You wouldn't be hurting so much."

Gray could once again feel the eyes of everyone on him and it made him want to run away. He really hated when everyone's attention was on him; the only time he never minded was when he was being a complete dumbass with Natsu by his side. The banged his head off the table in front of him, but still the silence of the room remained. He waited for someone to move, to say something, but he knew that they were all waiting on him; they were waiting on him to open up for once in his life.

"The reason why he didn't talk to me when he came back was because…he loved me." Gray whispered, "He said that it was wrong for him to love me so he had to stop; but it's not wrong because I love him too…right?"

More silence engulfed his reveal and he was pretty sure that if he looked up from the table he would see a variety of expressions on everyone in the room. He was about to get up and leave the room when a firm hand planted itself on his shoulder once more. He glanced up and saw Erza staring down at him intently; a slight blush adorning her cheeks.

"So," Lyon's eyes narrowed, "He stopped being your friend because he loves you and you're a boy?"

Gray imperceptibly nodded his head prompting Lyon's fists to clench at his sides,

"THAT'S IT! I'M GOING TO BEAT THE SNOT OUT OF THAT FLAMING SHIT HEAD!"

"Ul-sama," Meredy whispered, "I'm not sure if you know this but your brother is an idiot."

Ultear sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose,

"Believe me when I say that I already know… AND DON'T CALL ME UL!"

Gray had to resist the urge to face palm; his family was really, really screwed up. His gaze travelled over to the silent Lucy Heartfilia only to wish that he hadn't. The bad feeling that he had felt back in the attic had returned tenfold. Her eyes were sparkling as if she had just got the biggest idea in the world and he was pretty sure that he wasn't going to want to be any part of it.

"I know how we're going to knock some sense into that pink haired moron!" She announced.

Erza turned towards her with a raised eyebrow,

"And what would that be?"

Lucy smiled deviously and pulled a piece of paper out of nowhere before slamming it down on the table. As soon as Gray saw the heading he knew that today was going to be the last day of his life…

_Fairy Tail High Presents: The Fantasia Talent Festival!_

FTFTFTFT

Gray should really have learned to listen to his gut and run despite the substantial fear of Erza Scarlet. He was barely listening to the comedian on the stage as he fiddled with the strap of his guitar which was resting comfortably on his shoulder. How he had even managed to get into the talent show at such late notice was a conundrum in itself, but how Lyon and Loke were able to learn the song he had just wrote yesterday was enough to set him into a never ending tailspin. He didn't even understand how this damn song was supposed to tell Natsu that it was okay and that he loved him to… he didn't even get the chance to tell Lucy that he hadn't finished the lyrics to the song.

This was going to be a disaster. The sound of applause broke him out of his thoughts and caused his heart to beat even faster in his chest. The palms of his hands were getting sweaty and clammy; at this point he didn't think he would even be able to hold the pick in his hand. He started to back away from the curtains only to have a pale hand latch onto his forearm. He turned his head to see Lyon who was nodding his head encouragingly; he really didn't want to do this! Who says that Natsu is even at this stupid show?! Lucy said that she would take care of it, but Natsu was a stubborn as they came; if he didn't want to go, he wasn't going to go.

"Now for our next and final act!" Mirajane's soft tones carried into the crowd, "Gray Fullbuster!"

To say he was surprised when the sound of applause and cheering exploded from the crowd would be an understatement. He almost completely froze only to have both Loke and Lyon pull him out onto the stage. Gray gulped as he stared at the sea of people waiting expectantly for him to begin. He wanted to get off the stage as fast as he possibly could and run away, but just as he was about to move, he found a head of pink hair. It could be anyone, but something was telling him that it was Natsu sitting in the front row; his green eyes wide and flabbergasted. Completely forgoing the introduction to his song, Gray just started to strum allowing the notes to do the talking for him, just as he has been for the past three years.

_You took my hand, you showed me how,  
You promised me you'd be around  
Uh huh, that's right_

Gray's mind immediately floated to the 'dream' he had the day before. He thought of when Natsu first reached out to him and asked him to be his friend; it let him know that he was no longer alone and that nothing would have the power to separate them… at least that's what he thought…

_I took your words and I believed,  
In everything you said to me,  
Yeah huh, that's right_

_If someone said three years from now you'd be long gone  
I'd stand up and punch them out 'cause they're all wrong  
I know better, 'cause you said forever and ever  
Who knew…_

The raven thought of all the times Lyon and Ultear as well as some random kids in his class told him to forget about Natsu because he was never coming back. Except for his siblings, he had punched or kicked every single one of them for saying that; even after Natsu had stopped sending him letters. He had strongly believed that Natsu would come back and keep his promise; after all, they were friends forever weren't they? Gray locked gazes with Natsu at that moment and he could see pain and guilt clearly reflected in the green eyes before him; he wanted to stop him from looking like that, but he knew he couldn't fix it.

_Remember when we were such fools,  
And so convinced and just so cool,  
Oh no, no, no_

_I wish I could touch you again,  
I wish I could still call you friend  
I'd give anything_

_When someone said count your blessings now 'fore they're long gone  
I guess I just didn't know how I was all wrong  
They knew better, still you said forever and ever  
Who knew…_

Memories of him and Natsu fighting and protecting each other continued to fly in and out of his head as he played. The pain that he felt when Natsu didn't 'remember' him persisted as it tried to resurface and swallow him whole. Gray's fingers and eyes both burned as he continued to play; he was just about to stop playing and leave, unable to show his heart to the one person that mattered when he connected eyes with Lyon. His onyx eyes burning with determination and something else that Gray couldn't name; all he knew was that his older brother wanted him to keep playing through his pain and play he did.

_Yeah, yeah, I'll keep you locked in my head until we meet again  
Until we, until we meet again and I won't forget you my friend  
What happened?_

This was as far as his lyrics ever went, but as he looked at Natsu and his teary green eyes he let his breaking heart lead him; he finally let his pain and longing free…

_If someone said three years from now you'd be long gone  
I'd stand up and punch them out 'cause they're all wrong  
And that last kiss I'll cherish until we meet again and time makes it harder  
I wish I could remember, but I keep your memory you visit me in my sleep  
My darling, who knew…  
My darling, my darling, who knew…  
My darling, I miss you, my darling who knew…  
Who knew?_

As the last note carried through the auditorium, everything happened in slow motion. The crowd all rose to their feet clapping and shouting so loudly that Gray could barely even think straight. What got him the most was when Natsu flew out of his seat and hopped onto the stage and pulled him into a tight hug. Gray could distinctly hear the whispered apologies being whispered into his hair, but he didn't listen. All he was aware of was Natsu's arms wrapped tightly around him and his familiar warmth seeping through his skin.

A shiver chased through him as Natsu pulled away causing sadness to swallow him once more. The pinkette shook his head frantically and placed his calloused hands on Gray's smooth cheeks and used the pads of his thumbs to wipe away the tears Gray hadn't realized escaped. Natsu pressed their foreheads together and closed his eyes,

"You never let me answer your question," Natsu whispered, "Yes I was scared that you were a boy, but the main reason why I stopped talking to you was because I was afraid that when you found out that you would leave me first."

Gray choked on a sob and shook his head as the corner of his lips tilted upwards,

"You're such an idiotic fiery dumbass ash brain."

Natsu chuckled,

"I know."

Before Gray could question Natsu's uncharacteristic relent towards his idiocy, his mouth was immediately swallowed by fire. Gray couldn't help but smile into the kiss; looks as though Natsu has gotten a little better since that day three years ago and he couldn't wait to make up for the time that they had lost. The two teen separated for air green locking onto blue before Gray nuzzled his face into the corner of Natsu's neck,

"If you ever do this to me again, I'll never forgive you."

Natsu pressed his lips onto the top of the raven's head and hummed,

"Don't worry… I'm never going to let you go again."

The End.

**Hey minna! Here's a super long angst-filled one shot! I will most likely get around to writing this story in a Natsu POV so you guys can see how hard it was for him having to struggle with his feelings and complete 'forget' his best friend/love. I'm sorry if the ending is rushed and if the story completely sucked, but I heard "Who Knew" by P!NK and the idea hit me like a ton of bricks! And I didn't forget about my other stories; I just have no ideas at the moment :( **

**I'm waiting on your reviews :)**

**-sktrgrl**

**PS. The manga is seriously epic right now and I'm just WAITING for Gray and Silver to reunite. I know in a previous update I said that it was Gray's father, but I got to thinking… Gray's father would be too old to be Silver considering the 7 year timeskip and the fact that Gray is 18 years old… I might just be crazy and it really is his father, but what if he's Gray's younger or older brother? ... Food for thought… **


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